SPOTTLIGHT — Preparing to put your home up for sale

Putting your home up for sale can be an extremely stressful time. There are ways to avoid much of the stress by being proactive and getting things ready prior to that day.

Pay for a Home InspectionThe biggest hiccup in the whole home sale affair is the inspection. So before you even think about doing anything, have your property inspected first. You will know in advance everything that is wrong with your home before it goes on the market.

If you find that your home has major defects, the advantage is you can address them on your budget.

That means you can research the cost of the repairs so you won’t be at the mercy of a buyer telling you, for example, that it would cost $10,000 for a particular repair, instead of the $2,000 it would actually cost you.

Also, it gives you the gift of time. Time to really find out what those costs are before crunch time, when you may only be given a day to respond, or the deal goes south.

Additionally, by conducting a pre-listing inspection and being cognizant of any and all defects, you can disclose those to the buyer.

The buyer will then write an offer knowing your home’s condition. They cannot come back after their inspection, if they choose to have one, and say they want those defects fixed.

There is language in the WB-11 Offer To Purchase that protects the seller who chooses to have an inspection and who discloses aspects of a home that need repair or improvement: “Defects do not include structural, mechanical or other conditions the nature and extent of which Buyer had actual knowledge or written notice before signing this Offer.”

Don’t Wait to Discard or PackThe day after you decide to sell, act as though you are moving out in two weeks. Get rid of all that junk that’s been accumulating and those things you no longer use.

Use three sorting categories — boxes for the garbage, boxes for charity, and boxes for the stuff you want to keep. This way when you have an accepted offer, you are will not be stressing out about how to get out of the house in 30 days but with 30 years of stuff to dispose of, or worse, move.

Eliminating everything you really don’t need and prepacking frees you up in those final crucial days right before you move, so you have time for more important things like focusing on your new residence and what it holds for you.

StagingOnce you’ve gotten all of the technical stuff out of the way, clean your home. Wash the walls, doors, windows, cabinets, countertops, etc. Remove personal photos, jewelry, medicines, and everything that has value.

Decluttering is the name of the game. Go with the less is more theory. When a buyer walks through your home, you want them to remember what the home itself looked like, not your decorating.

Paint the interior if it hasn’t been painted in the past several years.

Then bring in a real estate agent who can advise you about what else you need, or do not need to do to make your home more saleable.